All about me!
There’s an implicit conceit in writing a blog isn’t there? It’s that you judge what you have to say to be worthy of people’s attention. It’s the equivalent of walking into a room and shouting “Listen up everyone! I’ve got something to say and I think you’re going to like it!”. I’m sure we bloggers also have some higher motives, but if we’re honest, I think there’s an element of ‘vanity project’ in every blog.
This makes me feel a bit uncomfortable, but with a subject as interesting as Rio, I feel happy enough to simply describe what I see and speculate on why things are the way they are. Then I can sit back and read what everyone else thinks in the comments. For those that don’t enjoy what I have to say, at least there are some pretty pictures!
The Eat Rio Facebook page just passed 500 likes!
People have all kinds of different ideas about what should go into a blog. Some people use their blogs as a kind of journal through which they invite you into their personal lives, others go for a more cold, fact based approach.
Personally I aim for somewhere in between the two extremes – the primary purpose of Eat Rio is to discuss things related to Rio and Brazil, but I think it’s more interesting if you can get a little context by knowing something about the person who’s doing the writing. I don’t know about you, but whenever I look at a blog for the first time I pretty much always go straight to the About page to get some background.
A couple of ‘me’ related things have happened recently, so I thought I might as well get them both out of the way in a single post. First of all, I was in the paper! It wasn’t a big thing and I only had a small mention, but I don’t get my picture in the paper every day, so here it is!
‘Who’s that handsome devil in the middle?’ I hear you asking. Well that’s the guy selling água de coco… If you click the image you can see it full size – a little exercise for anyone learning Portuguese! [from last Monday’s O Globo]
The other ‘me’ thing that happened recently is that I did an interview with one of those expat websites, www.BlogExpat.com. They just published it yesterday, so if want to hear my responses to questions such as “What is a myth about your adopted country?” and “What customs do you find most strange?” then take a look. They even made a little badge for the link.
OK, I’m sure that’s more than enough about me. Next post I’ll be talking food!
CONGRATTSSS THIS IS AWESOME!!!! Parabéns!!!
Hee Hee! Thanks Alex :)
Wow – you’re famous!
Hi Eleanor! Ha ha, I was certainly (locally) famous for the 20 minutes it took the photographer to take that photo of me and the coconut water seller ;)
I wonder what you and the coconut stand dude are talking about. Has he retained his barraca since your visit?
:-)
Btw notice that anti-havaiana sentiment is expressed by at least one of individuals mentioned in the O Globo piece. Alas, there is still hope. Oh, I was not mentioned in the article as one of the positive aspects regarding new acquaintances (cyber, but still) and consequential cultural enhancements resulting from a move to Brazil. Humm, perhaps I was cited though (Globo has a bias against me so it was probably edited out).
I was chatting to him about my herb garden. I think he decided to retire after about 25 minutes… ;)
Tom, I’m still unashamedly using you as a shiny and glittery example of what people SHOULD do to enrich life and the self. If your blog doesn’t go huge come the Olympics I’ll eat my elbow (possibly a very real delicacy in one of your street food stalls).
Keep up the superb work, for without it I wouldn’t be able to pontificate on what others should do!
Ah, Steve! Clearly you think my life in Rio is all parties and fun! Of course it’s true there are the beaches and the caipirinhas, the beautiful mountains, forests and waterfalls, the vibrant culture, the delicious food, the weather – oh yes, all those sunny days… Hmm, lost my train of thought there… Oh yes! Rio has all those things, but it also has bad traffic, plenty of rain and I worked 12 hours yesterday. But hey, let’s keep the positive spin going!
In all seriousness you are right of course – people should mix things up in life once in a while. Long working hours and the odd rainy week are nothing compared to all the positives. I’ll do my best to keep cotovelo (elbow) off the menu ;)
parabens pelo blog meu camarada! Caí de paraquedas por aqui a umas semana trás.. e quando percebi fiquei mais de 5 horas lendo suas postagens!
Muito interessante, ter uma visão gringo-carioca das coisas que acontecem na NOSSA cidade maravilhosa!
Acompanho com gosto suas aventuras, inclusive e principalmente, as culinárias!
Parabens e continue assim!
Abraços!
Oi Victor! Muito obrigado pelas palavras simpaticas :) Para mim, o blog é um bom motivo para aprender mais do Rio e do Brasil. Estou sempre tentando saber e entender mais, e depois, tento explicar para os outros. As vezes cometo erros e mal-entendidos, mas os leitores são prestativos e juntos entendemos mais! :D
A comida brasileira é bem interessante (e bem gostosa também! rs) – vou escrever muito mais sobre isso. Abraço!
Isso ai, precisando estou por aqui, basta escrever! ótimo sábado meu amigo!